Done

At about 8:05 AM this morning the Medical Director of the ER where I have worked full time for just under 17 years and about 1/2 time for 2 years said:

"You have given a good report."

He then stood erect "at attention" and saluted me.

I have been officially "separated" from the ER after working my last shift last night. And that was my Director's way of saying "goodbye" - he is a retired Army Colonel.

This evening a couple of friends from my Bible class at church came over and brought blueberry muffins and fruit salad to join us for supper in commemoration of the event - Beth fried up some vegetarian saucettes and popped some popcorn.

For the first time since my academy years I will be on a strictly daytime work schedule. A long time.

This is a somewhat bittersweet "moment:"

> I leave behind quite a few friends with whom I have worked for many years;

> I feel some sadness that despite multiple attempts to contact the hospital administration and my employer (a different hospital to whom we had been outsourced 3 years ago) to discuss whether some changes might be made that might result in my staying on a few years longer, no one contacted me to sit down and talk over the issue(s);

> I have done so much above what was involved in my job to try to help this hospital succeed in its mission to more fully reveal God's character to those are ill that it is hard to "walk away;"

> I have patients who have been coming to the ER expecting to see me for just under 20 years - including some whose lives I have been blessed to have been God's instrument in saving their lives in the most literal sense.

On the other hand I can look forward to the future with hope and buoyed by these thoughts:

> That so many administrative types would NOT contact me given the very high cost of recruiting individuals such as myself is, in and of itself, an indication of a Providential "closed door": a clear sign of God's leading in my life;

> That so many individuals who were directly instrumental in helping me get my job and who helped train me for what I am doing now are all gone and no longer work at the corporation where I work is again an evidence of the very close timing and Divine leading that put me where I am: in a job that no one else in this entire corporation does - I am one of a kind - and I love it;

> That I am making new friends in my new job is a real blessing and once again an opportunity to reveal God's character to people I would never have met otherwise;

> That I have been placed in a department with a Director to work with whom I really enjoy working with and who does everything she can to protect me from distractions and corporate politics so that I can simply do my work unencumbered by these issues is a HUGE blessing;

> That I have been given a day time job that will allow me to be at church every week for the first time 1973 is a blessing beyond compare;

> That I have a family that have been supportive during this long transition, which I actively started over a year ago, during which I have been working two jobs alternating day work and night work for 8 months and which has resulted in a decreased income (2/3 of my previous income) is more than I could ever have wished, hoped or prayed for;

> That my dear wife, Jean, made no complaint when I bought a new 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid to use for my commute to work was a very sweet gift of patience;

> That God blessed us with the resources to cover our daughter's upcoming college expenses made this transition possible;

> That in addition, God added enough to pay off Jean's little PT Cruiser which we bought last year was an additonal financial blessing;

> That I will now have paid time off for vacation and holidays which may make it possible for me to not only visit extended family but may make it possible for me to go on short term mission trips - which will stetch my spiritual muscles and help me to learn to trust God more - is an unexpected benefit;

> That I will lose count of all the many ways that God lead me to this job is a reality.

On balance while the emotions are all to near the surface today, on balance this is a very momentous, very positive life change.